chris hartman | Horse Racing Free Tips

Derby Training At Churchill Downs: King Guillermo ‘Enjoying Being In Kentucky’

It was a quiet Tuesday morning of training beneath the historic Twin Spires with several Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders continuing their training for Labor Day weekend's races including Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo, who galloped 1 ½ miles at 7:30 a.m. (all times Eastern) under the watchful eye of his trainer Juan Avila.

The speedy King Guillermo has turned heads in his morning training led by his flashy :58.20 five-furlong move last Saturday. He is scheduled to work once prior to the Sept. 5 race.

“I think he's really enjoying being in Kentucky,” said the Venezuelan-native Avila, who emigrated to the U.S. in 2018. “We're very happy with how he's taken to the track and his workouts the last two weeks.”

King Guillermo's owner, five-time Major League Baseball player Victor Martinez, is scheduled to arrive in Louisville later this week.

Prior to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks training window, Lloyd Madison Farm's Major Fed galloped 1 ½ miles at 5:15 a.m. under exercise rider Margarito Fierro. Trained by Greg Foley, the $300,000 Indiana Derby (GIII) runner-up is scheduled to have his final breeze on Friday. Approximately 45 minutes following Major Fed's gallop, West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing's $600,000 Arkansas Derby (GI) third-place finisher Winning Impression had a light 1 ½-mile gallop with trainer Dallas Stewart's exercise rider Emerson Chavez in the saddle.

Raymond Daniels and Wayne Scherr's graded stakes placed Necker Island had his normal 1 ½-mile gallop at 7:30 a.m. under Hillary Hartman. Trainer Chris Hartman reported Necker Island is scheduled to have one work prior to the Derby with jockey Miguel Mena in the saddle.

Several Kentucky Derby contenders have yet to converge on Churchill Downs but are scheduled to arrive in the upcoming week. The following is the latest arrival information, according to senior director of the stable area Steve Hargrave:

Tuesday via flight from San Diego (approximately 12:30 p.m. ET at Barn 40): Rushie (Michael McCarthy)
Wednesday or Thursday via van from Skylight Training Center to Churchill Downs: Art Collector (trainer Tommy Drury)
Sunday via flight from New York: Caracaro (Gustavo Delgado) and Ny Traffic (Saffie Joseph)
Sunday via van from Florida: Sole Volante (Patrick Biancone)
Aug. 31 via flight from San Diego to Louisville: Authentic (Bob Baffert), Honor A. P. (John Shirreffs), Storm the Court (Peter Eurton); and Thousand Words (Baffert)
Aug. 31 via flight from New York: Dr Post (Todd Pletcher) and Tiz the Law (Barclay Tagg)
Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 via van from Canada: Shirl's Speight (Roger Attfield)

On the Longines Kentucky Oaks front, Mark and Nancy Stanley's graded stakes placed Tempers Rising galloped 1 ½ miles at 6:30 a.m. under Chavez. Also making an appearance Monday morning at Churchill Downs was Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing Limited and Big Aut Farms' $200,000 Indiana Oaks (GIII) winner Shedaresthedevil, who galloped 1 ½ miles with exercise rider Edvin Vargas up for trainer Brad Cox. Her stablemate, Juddmonte Farms' $600,000 Alabama Stakes (GI) runner-up Bonny South, galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider Gustavo Abrego.

“Both of these fillies continue to train really well and even though Bonny South just ran, she looks great on the track,” Cox said. “I think Shedaresthedevil has really come into her own and continues to mature with age.”

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Ellis Park Derby’s Attachment Rate, Necker Island Hope To Run For Roses

Second and third in Sunday's Ellis Park Derby, connections of Attachment Rate and Necker Island are hoping to run the 3-year-old colts in this year's rescheduled edition of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sept. 5.

Attachment Rate was defeated 3 1/4 lengths by Art Collector at Ellis, and his top four finishes in the G3 Matt Winn and G3 Gotham have earned the son of Hard Spun a total of 35 points toward the Run for the Roses. That places the Dale Romans trainee 18th on the leaderboard, ensuring him a spot in the starting gate.

“(The Ellis Park Derby,) that's the best race he's run for us so far, I think,” Romans told Horse Racing Nation. “With that being said, we should probably try the Derby.”

A further 5 1/4 lengths back at the wire, Necker Island has earned just 14 points toward the Kentucky Derby. That places him 28th on the points leaderboard, but with a number of defections expected this son of Hard Spun should make the main body of the field. Necker Island was a $100,000 claim in June at Churchill Downs, and is owned by Wayne Scherr and Raymond Daniels.

“If there's any way that there would be an open spot, he will be there for sure,” trainer Chris Hartman told Horse Racing Nation. “I think he'll probably be able to run a mile and a quarter. Class would be the other thing. I don't know. I know Wayne would love to run him in the race and it's going to have to have a lot of things unfold for him to get in there. You never can tell, I guess.”

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$100,000 Claim Necker Island Jumps Into Indiana Derby For New Trainer Chris Hartman

Owners Jackie Rojas, Wayne Scherr and Raymond Daniels put up $100,000 a month ago to claim the Hard Spun colt Necker Island out of an allowance/optional claiming race at Churchill Downs. On Wednesday they'll try to get a big piece, if not all, of their investment back right off the bat when they run their new acquisition in the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

Trainer Chris Hartman said the owners didn't necessarily have the Indiana Derby in mind in claiming Necker Island, who had a trio of fifth places and a fourth in four stakes attempts before owner Sagamore Farm opted to put him in the Churchill race for the $100,000 claiming price instead of the allowance condition, for which he was eligible.

Necker Island finished fourth in the stakes-caliber field that day. Of course, that also made him last. Still, the entire field will run this week in Kentucky Derby qualifying races, including runner-up Shared Sense in the Indiana Derby.

“We didn't really have this race in mind, but we were looking at a few spots,” Hartman said of the claim. “This one looked like it was going to come up to our liking. The gentleman who owns him always wanted to claim a horse like that. I noticed the horse in the (entries), and he said, 'Let's do it.' … He had some previous races that were very competitive. He ran two good races in the fall and then sort of slipped off form a little. But he's been running in really tough races. He ran with some really nice horses, all on the Derby trail. That was part of the allure of going after him for $100,000.”

Hartman claims a lot of horses, but never before for six figures.

“I wasn't nervous a drop, but there was a 'shake' for the horse for $100,000,” he said, referencing the claiming game's version of drawing straws to determine who gets a horse when more than one person drops a claim slip before the race.

“He's doing well,” Hartman said. “He's cleaning up the feed tub and training well. So, we thought we'd take a chance. It appears on paper that he fits in the race.”

As far as the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, for which the Indiana Derby's winner will earn 20 qualifying points: “I leave that for others to dream,” he said. “I don't know. It would be a great story if it happened that way.”

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